BVM Members,
Thank you for joining us as a BVM Foundation Member to do our part to help build a culture of life in our community. Thanks to all of your generosity, we were able to send another $8,000 to the Clinic this month.
Here are some interesting statistics that I received from Catholic Charities CEO Art Bennett on number of people the Clinic has served so far.
As you all know, the plan is to ramp up slowly so the operation does not get overwhelmed, but even a slow ramp-up has results in a whole lot of people being served:
Unduplicated patients (visits): 235 ~ Total number of visits: 563
We also thought you would be interested in the latest report from the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic Director, Alexandra Luevano. Thank you for being a part of this amazing local story of redemption:
Thanks to more physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals volunteering with Catholic Charities, we have been very busy at the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic. The kindness, support, and prayers of our donors, volunteers and parishes, have allowed the clinic to continue to improve and provide our clients with expanded medical services.
It has been wonderful to see how the clinic continues to grow, with over 200 patients now registered. Because of the large demand for services and the increased resources we are able to increase our hours of having physicians see patients at the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic on Wednesdays and with specialists coming in on other days. We couldn’t do this without the generous donation of time by our physicians. We are so excited about the specialists we have onsite; cardiology, orthopedics, dietician and physical therapy. We have added a orthopedist and a second cardiologist. Our clients have benefited tremendously from being referred to these providers.
We also have new providers who are able to see patients in their offices. During the month of March, we partnered with a dentist who is able to see patients. In addition, there is an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, an allergist, and a podiatrist who are also able to see clients. Finally, a urologist is able to see a patient based on need, and is also hoping to start coming to the clinic to see patients. We are so blessed to have so many physicians come into the Mother of Mercy Free Clinic network.
Also, we started a nutrition and exercise program. We have about 8 -10 clients regularly attend. This has been extremely helpful to our clients as they have been able to make lifestyle changes, lose weight, and build a sense of community. They are meeting an hour prior to the class to walk together.
In March, we had several parents come seeking medical care for their children, two with lung problems and one with a neurological disease. Since we are not able to see children at this time, we are working with the parents to refer them to UVA for medical assistance.
Other programs at Catholic Charities allow us to provide wrap around services for the whole person. We continued to work with Catholic Charities St. Lucy’s Project to help our patients who do not have immediate access to food. We have also referred several patients to Catholic Charities Family Services for mental health needs. A woman who is illiterate and recently moved to the area came to the clinic with a need for obstetric services and we referred her to Tepeyac. However, she didn’t have anyone who could attend her appointment with her and assist her with interpreter services. We worked with Gabriel Project who was able to provide her with an interpreter for appointments.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and consider making it official through our volunteer opportunity for Prayer Warriors. Remember us when you see your physicians and consider asking them if they would be interested in volunteering at the clinic or seeing a patient pro bono in their office.
As Pope Francis stated, “In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ.” Thank you for allowing us to provide God’s love and service to those in need. May the Lord continue to bless you and your families!
Alexandra Luevano, BSN, RN, CCM
Program Director, Mother of Mercy Free Clinic
The sole mission of the BVM Foundation is to support the monthly financial needs of the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic. Our goal is to build a base of 1,000 recurring monthly donors to match the monthly financial needs of the Mother of Mercy Free Clinic.
We are intentionally focusing on the number of members, not the monthly amount, because we also believe want to engage as many people in the community as possible in this effort. It was the whole community that prayed to shut down the Amethyst Women’s Health Clinic and now it is up to all of in the community to pray for the sustainability of the Mother of Mercy Clinic.
Please share this message with family and friends and ask them to become of the 1,000 new BVM Members. All they have to do it visitwww.BVMTrustFoundation.org, hit the “Become a Member” button, and offer a recurring monthly donation of any amount.
No amount is too small, and all donations are fully tax deductible. We are committed to ensuring that 100% of your donations make it to clinic.
May God continue to bless the great work of Alexandra Luevano, Catholic Charities and all of the volunteers at the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic.